Three-alarm fire levels Loudon garage

LOUDON – A three-alarm fire in a garage next to a home at 602 Clough Hill Road Wednesday morning leveled the garage but left the home intact, firefighters said.

Deputy Chief William Lake said the fire was discovered at 8:30 a.m. as town Fire Chief Richard Wright was driving by the home on his way to the fire station.

“He saw a white column of smoke going across the road,” Lake said. “At first he thought it was someone burning some brush.”

When he investigated, Wright found the heavy smoke was coming from a garage. He called for a first alarm and then called for a third alarm in order to get the manpower and equipment needed to get water to fight the flames, as there was no nearby source of water.

The three-bay, approximately 30- by 50-foot garage was not immediately adjacent to the homeowners’ log home, so there were no exposure concerns to the house.

The homeowners were not home at the time of the fire, Lake said.

By the time firefighters arrived, the garage “was fully involved” in flames, Lake said, and there was no hope of saving it.

“It’s a total loss,” he said.

The cause of the fire was not known Wednesday afternoon. An investigator from the state Fire Marshal’s Office was called to the scene.

“It’s not suspicious,” Lake said. “There’s still a lot of timber we have to get through, and we’re investigating, but it’s not anything suspicious.”

The fire was extinguished and only a few firefighters remained on the scene late Wednesday morning.

There were no cars in the garage, just an old John Deere tractor which was heavily damaged, Lake said.